They are early breeders and it is not unusual for them to have a clutch of eggs in late February. However, this nearly happened in the early 1900’s as the colony was down to a single bird and so to avoid any catastrophe a local farmer from Dartmoor caught some young ravens in Sourton Quarry and sent them to the tower.Īlthough over the years ravens have suffered persecution from the farmer it is thought that the Dartmoor population is buoyant. It was always supposed that the ravens birthday was Good Friday although why that day there is no record.Įveryone knows that tradition of the ravens of the Tower of London and that how if they ever desert the place then Britain will face a national disaster. If one was seen flying towards the sun then this bode well for a spell of hot weather. Ravens were also used to predict the weather, if one was seen preening itself this was taken to warn of approaching rain. In the myths and beliefs of the Arthurian Legends it was said that on his death, King Arthur turned into a raven. So deeply was their belief in this that if it did happen they would refuse to enter the mine until all the machinery was checked. The old tinners maintained that if ever a raven flew over the mine and its shadow passed over the shaft then a death would occur. To see a raven resting on the church roof was taken to mean that within a week a corpse would be brought through the lych gate. If anybody ever stole a raven’s egg then revenge would exacted by the death of a human baby.
In a similar vein it was thought that if a raven flew around the chimney then anybody lying ill within the house would surely die. Old moorfolk believed that if a croaking raven flies over a house it is an omen of death or sickness. The raven has been associated with the Devil and is said to have the worst nature of all the birds. There is the story of the ‘ Blackingstone Ravens‘ and also of the ancient raven that stands guard over ‘ Chaw Gully‘ both stories portray the bird as a harbinger of death. Many see the bird as something that borders on evil which probably stems from its folklore traditions. There is no particular ‘hotspot’ to see them they just tend to turn up anywhere from the moorland fringes to deep in the fen. Look up and there is the big black bird languidly flapping its way across the skies. On many occasions when walking the moor the solitude and the silence has been broken by either a slow rhythmic ‘womping’ noise or a deep guttural ‘cronking’ both emanating from above and which announce the presence of a raven or a ‘sheep vulture’ as it is called on Dartmoor.
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